The present invention relates a file management system having a function for managing a use state of a file that stores moving picture data such as television program.
In recent years, the performance of a personal computer becomes remarkably higher, and improvement of communication technology or larger capacity of a recording medium becomes significant. With the tendency, some of the recent personal computers each comprise a so-called picture recording function for receiving moving picture data such as television programs distributed via a network, for example, and compressing and encoding such moving picture data by means of an MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group) system, thereby recording the data in a hard disk unit or the like.
In addition, a personal computer of such type incorporates a device or software having a decode function, and reproduces moving picture data recorded in the hard disk unit or the like.
In general, a file for storing such moving picture data is created in a predetermined directory on a recording medium (such as hard disk unit) specified in advance. Therefore, when a user attempts to reproduce desired moving picture data from among a plurality of moving picture data, the user displays a list of files in that directory, and selects the corresponding file from among these files by using a mouse or a keyboard.
In the meantime, conventionally, with respect to the file created to store such moving picture data, a state of use such as “Not reproduced” or “Reproduced”, for example, is not managed at all. Thus, when the aforementioned files in the predetermined direction are displayed in a list, all the files are arranged just uniformly. Namely, in this file list display, the user could not judge easily which file stores moving picture data that is not reproduced or which file stores moving picture data that has been reproduced.